McCarthy & Kennicott AK

Gentle rain is falling as I sit on the long deck of our lodge in the early morning and look out on umpteen zillion acres of lakes, rivers, forest, and the Wrangle Mountains of SE Alaska. Real and surreal -- words fail me. Healing, feeling, peaceful, pleasant to the soul. 

A few other lodge residents are starting to stir and come to the deck, coffee in hand, to peer into this humbling, quiet expanse as they await breakfast inside. Few words are being uttered.

 Yesterday was an excellent flying day in the local area. When I say local area I remind myself that the Wrangle-St. Elias National Park is five times as big as Yellowstone, and larger than Switzerland! It’s easy to get alone here. To feel small and awed.

Of course walking on a nearby glacier or wandering around the massive old Kennicott copper mine is the normal way and has it’s own “up close” appeal, but flying and flight seeing is what we came to do and our modus operandi, for which we are joyful and grateful. Yet one still feels small and humble as we fly between towering mountains like the legs of  colossal giants unlike any the earth has seen, with streams, granite, forest and glacier seemingly, quietly peering back at us.

Those are my musings and reflections as I sit on the deck this morning in a gentle rain, coffee in hand, and quietly thank God for what we saw yesterday and apparently will continue to see as we journey…

Alaska!

We had a great day of flying yesterday from Whitehorse to McCarthy AK, with a couple gas stops along the way and lunch at "Fast Eddie's" in Tok AK, a wonderful restaurant known to our own fast Eddie, James Shepard. :) The scenery and beauty continue to dazzle us. Even so, none of us were prepared for the view when we turned the corner at our destination.

No cell service and sketchy web at the hotel have slowed our reporting a little, but the adventure continues at full speed! Actually, a welcome "much slower" speed! :)

Whitehorse

We had our day of rest and a relaxing day it has been. The weather started out rainy with low ceilings, but by days end the clouds and rain had pretty much cleared out. Time was spent walking the city center and along the Yukon River trail, visiting museums, sharing meals, napping, and flight planning our next leg with it's border crossing.

We all enjoyed the town and the cool weather. We're rested and ready to go, with the Alaska border in our sights tomorrow morning! Hopefully our next blog will be from the 49th state. :)

Yukon

Today we continued up the ALCAN Highway  toward our destination Alaska. From Ft. Nelson we flew to Watson Lake, then on to Whitehorse from whence we hope to fly into Alaska at the first opportunity. I say opportunity because the weather is looking iffy for tomorrow, and we may need to wait here until it clears or the forecast improves.

Oh well? After landing, fueling and tying down our planes, our lodging procurement officer, Jim,  found us a hotel downtown near the Yukon River. The old downtown is charming and interesting with a river walk, and an eclectic mixture of hotels and restaurants. We had a marvelous meal at the Klondike Ribs & Salmon! :)

Having said all that, we had been told the territory and terrain we would experience on this part of the route would be as beautiful as any we'll find in AK. So we planned to "enjoy the journey" or "smell the roses" if you will.  And prepared ourselves to savor the scenery as it can only be experienced by flying. But we really weren't prepared. We had no idea!?

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so this blog will be long on photos taken during our five or six hours of flying today, to attempt to communicate the beauty and wonder we experienced. Enjoy!

For more photos click here! :)

Track Doug & Dwayne by clicking here.
Track Ken & Jim by clicking here.

British Colombia

We're pushing on northwest and today ended up at Fort Nelson, British Columbia. It was a shorter day than usual for us, but we were all welcoming a little rest, as we've been pushing reasonably hard. We dropped in to Dawson Creek, the official start of the Alaskan Highway and crossed into another time zone, then flew over Ft. St. John and up the ALCAN to our lodging place for the night.

We've had smooth air, beautiful weather, and tailwinds for most of our trip, certainly the last two days. :)

Tomorrow will be a longer day as we're pushing NW to Whitehorse, Yukon. It seems to be getting better and better, while it's all been great. The scenery, and catching up with each other, over unhurried meals and at rest stops. Enjoying war stories from days gone bye, enjoying the memories we made with each other that made us friends some thirty-five years ago ... friendships that have endured the test of time and continue to this day. :)

I think we all thank God, feeling grateful, humbled, and blessed to have this amazing opportunity.  His grace to you all....

Canada!

Day three we head to the airport after a hardy breakfast on the old western main street and fly straight to Lethbridge Alberta where we clear customs without any problem or delay, fuel, and get on our way toward the ALCAN Highway and points further north. The air was cool, still, and the scenery pleasing and beautiful all day long. We've come a long ways in three days, probably flying about six hours a day. Some say the most scenic part of the journey is about to begin?!

Wyoming & Montana

Day two we departed early to take advantage of the cooler temperatures and headed north along the front range over Cheyenne WY, stopping for lunch and gas in Gillette WY. Later we made an airborne decision to spend the night in Lewistown MT. Along our route was lots of beautiful and varied terrain and man made features including the biggest mines I've ever seen and maybe on the planet, the source of most of America's coal. Central MT was a big surprise for it's beauty, friendly people, and wonderful (summertime!) climate. :)

North to ...well you know...

Rocky Mountain High

Ken with sister Jill

The end of day 1 had us near Boulder CO on the front range of the Rockies. Besides the wonderful hospitality and nice visit with Jill & Walt, we experienced some new aviation phenomena for us with our Maules. The high elevations coupled with the hot temperatures taught us a lot about mountain and high altitude flying. And the capabilities of our airplanes. The exploration and adventure continues !! :)

Seems like we go back in time the farther west we travel